


Unique services in hardware stores

by astronautti



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hardware Store, Awkward Steve Rogers, Blushing Steve Rogers, Everyone's happy, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Steve and Bucky are normal people, Swearing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 22:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16072988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astronautti/pseuds/astronautti
Summary: College student Steve Rogers get's a summer job in a hardware store and meets his new, cute colleague.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Soo, this just kind of came to me and I wrote it in a couple of days. I took inspiration from my own experience working in a hardware store, but I have absolutely no idea what hardware stores are like in the US so I just tried to be very general. Also, never been closer to Brooklyn than the Brooklyn Bridge (yes, I know, rookie tourist mistake haha) so I didn't use any place names, because there's a big chance I'd be wrong and also I'm just kinda lazy. 
> 
> This is 100% fluff and just something small and cute that will hopefully make people smile. I'm also really bad at naming stories (I'm a journalist and can't come up with a good headline to save my life, either), so this was shamelessly stolen from the hardware store Wikipedia page. 
> 
> Btw, Natasha/Bruce relationship is not in the main focus of this story so if you don't like it, you don't have to skip this whole thing. I think. Unless you really hate it. 
> 
> Also, this isn't really pre- or post-serum Steve, but something in between. Tall and a little muscular, but not like the huge super soldier that he is in the movies. 
> 
> Finally, I really wanted to write Groot and Rocket in this, but they aren't really normal human names so I ended up using Bradley and Vincent.
> 
> PS: I was probably unknowingly thinking of Paul Rudd when I named the two random store employees Mike and Paul haha.

Steve Rogers was an ordinary guy. He grew up in Brooklyn in a moderate household, graduated from high school with average grades and with a hint of luck got into Queens College. He was majoring in Anthropology and minoring in History, even though he still had no idea what he wants to do when he graduates. For now, getting a summer job at the local hardware store was enough. 

He still lived with his mother in Brooklyn and commuted to college because, well, he could barely afford to go to college, let alone live there. At least now he’d be able to make some extra cash during the summer break. 

“Steve!” his mom Sarah shouted from the hall, “I’m off to the hospital, be sure you won’t be late on your first day of work!”

“Yeah, alright,” Steve muttered and covered his face with his comforter. He stretched out in his glorious Ikea double bed that they could finally afford a couple of years back. Before then he slept in a single bed that, by the time he hit 15 or 16 years old, had gotten way too small for him. 

Steve was a scrawny kid, always at least a few inches shorter than the rest of his class, but when he really hit puberty, it hit him hard. It seemed like he grew at least five inches in a blink and started gaining a bit of muscle without really even trying and even his own mother was surprised to say the least. 

His phone was ringing and he groaned as he lifted it to his ear. “Yes mom, I’m up,” he said, “yeah, no need to check on me again.” He had always been a sleeper and he appreciated his 8 hours a night, which his mom was well aware of. He looked at the time as he put the phone down, it’s 6:37 AM, and lifted himself up from the bed. He went to the bathroom, poured himself a cup of already cooled down coffee, got dressed and slouched at the table. He didn’t have to be in at work until 8 o’clock, but he thought he’d take a detour as he walked over. As he stood up to leave he poured another cup of coffee into his travel mug and got out of the door into the warm New York morning.

**

“Um, hello? I’m Steve,” he greeted one of the employees at the store. He’d been told to just walk in at eight o’clock, which made him just a little nervous. “I’m here for the summer job.” The guy looked up from his computer screen and Steve swears that his heart missed a beat right then. The guy was young too, couldn’t have been more than two or three years older than Steve, and his eyes were deep as hell. His brown hair was overgrown, but it suited him really well and Steve couldn’t help but follow his fingers when he tucked the locks behind his ear.

“Oh, Steve, cool! Come on in, come on in,” the guy said and Steve felt his face heating up as he snapped his eyes off of his face, “I was already waiting for you,” he said and winked and Steve felt the red just deepen in his face. 

“The manager is out this morning so I’ll be showing you around if that’s okay. I’m James, by the way, but everybody calls me Bucky. Actually, not sure why I didn’t introduce myself as Bucky in the first place though. Don’t even like the name James. Now, let’s go get you some shirts and I’ll show you the locker room and the break room,” the guy, Bucky, rambled on and waved for Steve to follow. Well, he seems talkative, Steve thought to himself. 

**

Steve wasn’t wrong about Bucky being talkative, it almost seemed like he loved his own voice more than anyone. After a few hours at the store, Bucky had been talking Steve’s ears off about everything and anything. He’d showed him the computers and the cashier, told Steve all about paints (or that’s what Steve thought, before Bucky said that “of course there is still hundreds of different products that we don’t have in stock but could probably order in if a customer really wants that specific paint, but it’s all online too so you shouldn’t really worry about it”). After paints came flooring and after floors came tiles and by the time they reached the tool section it was already well after lunchtime. Steve was all around confused by all the new information and he wondered why he hadn’t applied to that little shop down the road as they probably had way less products to memorize. 

“So, did you bring lunch?” Bucky asked, even though Steve showed up without a backpack to work and had nowhere to hide his lunch if he had it.

“No, wasn’t really that prepared this morning,” Steve mumbled and hated himself a bit more when he could feel his face warming up again. 

“Okay, I brought some leftovers from home, but if you want we could go get lunch at this cafe down the road?” Bucky suggested, “I can eat the leftovers tomorrow. Or tonight when I get home. Or maybe never but it’s okay.” He smiled so bright it hurt and Steve hadn’t met anyone so excited about lunch before, so he just had to say yes. 

“Okay, let’s go then,” he smiled back at Bucky, whose impossibly big smile just widened. 

**

“So Steve, tell me about yourself,” Bucky said as he was stuffing his face with sweet potato fries.

“Not much to tell,” Steve countered, “was born and raised in Brooklyn, I study anthropology in Queens College and well, now I work here,” Steve waved his hand towards the store. Bucky had a shocked expression on his face.

“You moved to Queens?!” He shouted, “Traitor!”

“No, actually I didn’t even move there. Poor kid from Brooklyn, see, I don’t really have the money to move out. So I commute,” Steve shrugged, “how about you?”

“Good, I got worried there for a while, can’t be seen with a traitor,” Bucky laughed, “and yeah, I’ve lived in Brooklyn all my life too, if you didn’t gather that already. Went to a community college for two years and found it kind of useless so I dropped out. Dad kicked me out then, said I couldn’t stay if I was just wasting my life. I stayed with a friend until I found a permanent place to live. Now I live with two friends in a shitty flat, but it’ll do while none of us are millionaires. Got this job and well, here I am,” Bucky told and it was Steve’s turn to look shocked. 

“Wow, my life sound so freaking average after that,” Steve whistled, “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Don’t worry about it, dad and I we’re never close and it all started to fall apart years before that when he caught me in my room sucking a dick,” Steve had just gulped down a sip of coke and was now in the middle of a raging cough fit after snorting the drink up his nose. Bucky looked at him with an amused grin on his face and it just made breathing even harder for Steve. Finally, after he got his breathing back to normal, he pulled a face at Bucky.

“You did that on purpose, you monster!” He almost yelled at Bucky who was just grinning even wider. 

“I like a good shock factor,” he shrugged, “and besides, I need to know straight away if you’re going to be one of those homophobic dicks so I can stop being friendly immediately.” Bucky actually seemed serious for the first time.

“Yeah, I mean no, I’m absolutely not,” Steve said gravelly, “In fact I might enjoy a good dick every once in a while,” Steve said back and it was Bucky’s turn to snort his drink. Steve had no idea where this sudden courage came from, but he was very pleased to see Bucky blush in turn. 

**

After lunch Bucky took Steve right back to the store and started his next lecture about power tools. Most of it went over Steve’s head, but he didn’t say it. By the time they we’re finally finished with screws and bolts it was already 3 o’clock and they both had an hour left of their shifts. 

“So, I guess that’s pretty much everything. You’ll probably come by a lot of stuff you don’t know of yet but you can just ask anyone here, or then just Google it. I still Google the shit out of everything everyday. When I first started here I barely knew what a hammer was and yet I learned it all pretty quickly,” Bucky explained, “No time to really get into customer service today, so we could just go round and meet everyone. Boss is probably in by now too.”

So they started at the cashier, where Bucky introduced Steve to an older lady named June, who worked the register. As they wandered around the shop Steve got to meet a middle aged man named Mike and another man named Paul. By the time they reached the paint section again, a red headed girl had got to work. 

“Steve, this is Natasha, but you can call her Nat, Tasha, or just Romanov. She actually seems to prefer her last name for some freakish reason,” Bucky introduced as Steve shook Natasha’s hand. 

“Finally we get to meet the infamous Steven!” Natasha said, wearing an evilish grin, “Bucky here has been waiting for you to start here for weeks now!”

Steve looked at Bucky who, miraculously, had turned red again. He gave the brunette a questioning look.

“Shit, it’s nothing, don’t listen to her, she’s just running her mouth to keep herself warm,” Bucky said and rubbed his neck awkwardly, “and also, don’t use the word shit, boss doesn’t like it. Speaking of the devil.”

“Steve! Sorry I couldn’t be here this morning, I hope Bucky here has been taking good care of you,” the store manager, Nicholas Fury said as he walked towards them.

“It’s no problem at all, Bucky’s been very helpful today,” Steve said. He couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable around Fury, especially after the interview which he thought he had failed miserably. Fury must like him for some reason, after all he was given the job. They engaged in some small talk and Steve counted that Fury said the word “motherfucker” six times during the brief talk. When Fury was gone, he turned to Bucky.

“I thought the boss didn’t like it when you swear?” He asked.

“Well, yeah, but it only applies to everyone else except him,” Bucky shrugged, “Now let’s get going so we get to go home in time. I still have two people I need you to meet and just a heads up, these guys might seem like sophisticated middle aged men, but when they’re around it only means trouble. They look like they’re almost forty, but on the inside they are children.”

They headed to the warehouse and met two men, who were in the middle of a heated ball game, with a ball made of glad wrap.

“Yo, guys, come meet the new kid,” Bucky shouted at the two. The bald one dropped the ball as he looked up and his face turned into a grin. “But no funny business until he’s figured everything out, you don’t want to scare him away on his first day,” Bucky warned and shook his finger at the two. 

“I’m Bradley,” one of the men said and reached out to shake Steve’s hand, “and that’s my partner in crime, fellow warehouse worker, the king of inventories and the winner of most polished scalp competition, Vincent.” He pointed at the other guy and Steve shook his hand too.

“Alright, you’ve met everyone, now let’s get the hell out of here before Fury gets any ideas of working extra hours,” Bucky said and guided Steve through the shop to the men’s locker room. Steve waited awkwardly as Bucky changed into his regular clothes and suddenly the stain on the door of his locker was very interesting after he caught a glimpse of Bucky’s bare back.

“You ready?” Bucky asked, “Let’s get going then. Which way are you headed to again?”

“I’m going North-East from here.”

“Me, too! Wanna walk together?” Bucky asked and Steve didn’t even miss a beat when he nodded smilingly.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve had been working at the hardware store for almost a week now and amazingly he had learned a lot during his time there. Yesterday he, for the first time since starting there, managed to finish an entire customer interaction without asking for help. Sure, the old lady just wanted a new door handle, but it still made Steve feel extra good about himself.

His mother had been extra nosy about his job, she still had the tendency to be a little overprotective, even though Steve wasn’t the scrawny 14-year-old he’d once been. 

“Work was fine, still making friends,” Steve said before Sarah even had the time to ask. She had been asking the same questions every day after work. Steve didn’t really mind it, he was just in a sucky mood because a certain someone was not going to be working today.

He’d been hanging with Bucky at work since day one and he’d really started to like him. Like, like, like him. Sure, Bucky’s hot as hell, but he’s also funny, and caring and smart. Steve had to slap himself in the face, because he was thinking about Bucky too often. 

**

When he got to work Natasha was already there typing away on a computer.

“Morning,” he greeted her and she just gave him a wave without lifting her gaze up from the screen. Steve headed to the locker room to change into his work shirt and went to grab a cup of coffee from the break room to get his day started. Not only did he need his 8 hours of sleep, but he also needed an unusually large amount of caffeine to wake up properly. 

“So, do you think you could go through the tapes today and see what we need to place an order for?” Natasha asked him when he got to the work station.

“Yeah, sure I think I can do that,” Steve replied. They were certainly friendly, but not friends by any means, so he just grabbed the PDA and got to work. Natasha seemed very cold and indifferent to everything, but Steve had seen her with Bucky and they seemed to have a good time together. Stupid little tug of jealousy crept up on Steve, who shook his head and tried to concentrate on the tapes. It’s not like he and Bucky were a thing or anything anyway. 

**

“So, what do you think about this place?” Natasha asked as she opened up a yoghurt. 

“It’s nice, maybe not my dream job but it’ll do for now,” Steve shrugged.

“What about us people?” Natasha pried on him.

“Everyone’s been really nice, although I’m constantly waiting for Brad and Vin to start pranking me, which is kind of exhausting. June seems nice, reminds me a little of my grandma,” Steve said and decidedly avoided bringing Bucky up. Natasha had other plans, though.

“So, what about Bucky? You’ve been awfully close since you got here,” the evilish grin embellished her face again. 

“Yeah, he’s nice.”

“Just nice?”

“Yeah, really nice,” Steve was getting a little bit uncomfortable and probably flushed as hell. 

“O’okay,” Natasha elongated the ‘O’ in ‘Okay’, not sounding convinced at all, “I mean, I’d tap that too - if he was into girls, of course,” she added. Steve was so flushed that Natasha had to really work to hold in her laughter. She really might be the devil, Steve thought, as he hid behind his soup bowl. 

**

Steve spent the rest of the day hiding from Natasha, even a customer looked at him funny, when he refused to ask her for help, but ended up queuing to ask Paul, who was with a customer himself. The day was going by slowly when Bucky wasn’t working, so Steve paid a visit to the warehouse, where Vin and Brad were engaged in an intense poker tournament.

“I really don’t know why Fury hasn’t fired you guys yet,” Steve said as he walked towards the two. 

“Steve!” Bradley shouted, “wanna join in? I’m robbing Vinny here.” Steve gave him an amused look but shook his head.

“Maybe another time, don’t want to test my limits with Fury just yet,” he said. 

“Okay, your loss,” Bradley shrugged, “but while you’re here. Me and Vinny where thinking of putting together a little get-together for all the employees, we do it like a few times a year. You in? It’s usually just drinking in a bar somewhere,” he explained. 

“Yeah, sound nice, but I’m, um, I’m actually not 21 yet, not until July 4th,” Steve explained awkwardly looking anywhere else other than the two men.

“What? Could’a sworn you were at least 25 with that build! Ain’t 20-year-olds a little more scrawny still?” Vincent countered, seemingly in shock. Steve could feel his face heating up again and he still avoided the other men’s eyes.

“I don’t know, I just accidentally got big, I guess,” Steve muttered.

“One hell of an accident that was,” Bradley whistled, “But we could try and figure something out. Maybe we could for once consider doing something other than drinking. Just that, I don’t really care to see these motherfuckers outside of work sober either.”

**

Steve wasn’t working on the weekend and to try and take his mind off of Bucky, who was genuinely occupying his thoughts way too much, he called his friend Sam. Sam was an athlete with a capital A, and he’d gotten into Saint John’s. He was studying Homeland Security and Criminal Justice Leadership, was in the university basketball team and was all in all 100 percent awesome. Sometimes Steve was sickly jealous of his best friend as he was, in all respects, a more successful human, but he always got over his own insecurities. 

The two joined Sam’s friends who were already playing a game of basketball. Most of them were on the university team, but luckily Steve was at least as tall and even taller than the others were. He liked sports but never got into any team sports, because he never got into the any of the teams as a kid. Later on, when he had the physics to join, he’d lost interest. He preferred running and doing push-ups in his room, as he didn’t have to be social to do that.

The game was 30-32 and Steve’s team was winning by just a little bit. He was playing defense (they thought he’d be the least in the way there) and his only goal was to block the others, especially Sam from scoring, before the game was over. In the end Sam shot a 3 point score and his team celebrated their victory.

“Wanna go grab lunch,” Sam turned to Steve, who was awkwardly waiting for him.

“Yeah, I’m starving, let’s go,” Steve replied and led Sam off the court. 

The streets of Brooklyn were busy even for a Saturday as they pushed through to their regular hole-in-the-wall pizza place. They both got two slices and wandered to the same park bench they always sat at. 

“How’s life in the hardware store going?” Sam asked, mouth full of pepperoni pizza.

“Surprisingly good,” Steve answered, “the manager is scary, but actually kind of a softie and I’ve gotten a couple of friends, I guess. This guy Bucky showed me around on my first day and we get along really well, Natasha is this girl, who might be possessed by a demon, but she’s nice enough. Then there are the guys from the warehouse, you wouldn’t believe it, they’re both almost in their forties, but act like they were interns from the middle school down the road. They’re fun though. I think they’re trying to put together some kind of a group-building day, not sure what they’ll come up with though, since I’m not 21 yet.”

“Sounds good,” Sam answered, “Summer school isn’t bad either. I just hate that because of basketball I have to do all this work during the summer!” Steve laughed at that.

“Oh, it’s so hard playing point guard in my top university basketball team, and studying Criminal Justice at the same time,” Steve mocked and brushed his forehead off with the back of his hand dramatically. 

“Shut up,” Sam punched Steve in the bicep, but was laughing too.

**

As the day turned into night they walked over to Steve’s apartment. Sam lived in Queens now, but came back to Brooklyn every now and then for the weekend, as most of his college friends were from Brooklyn too. 

“Hi mom, Sam’s here!” Steve shouted as they walked through the door.

“Hey, Ms. Rogers!” Sam shouted and they heard a muffled ‘hey boys, I’m in the laundry room’, back as they made their way to Steve’s room. They both flopped onto Steve’s bed and as an automatic took out the old Nintendo and started playing the dirt old version of Mario Kart. Steve was winning big time and Sam just whined how it wasn’t fair. Steve was just beating Sam’s ass in Mushroom Cup as his phone buzzed. He finished the race before he looked at the message. It was from a unsaved number.

_Meet Bartholomew Steven Moore._

Attached was a picture of an ID that had his picture, but all the personal information belonged to this Bartholomew. 

“I guess I’m going to a bar with my co-workers,” he said and showed the picture to Sam.

“Where are you working, the mafia? That ID looks so real and that’s coming from a criminal justice student,” Sam said and whistled as Steve was writing back a reply.

_I suppose this is Bradley?_

His phone buzzed almost immediately.

_You know it. We’re going out next Saturday. I’ll let you know where we’re going when I find out._

“Nah, I just work with an irresponsible 35-year-old who wants everybody to get drunk, apparently.” His phone buzzed again.

_It’s casual, don’t get too dressed or you’ll just embarrass us all. Bring friends if you want._

Steve laughed at the message and turned to Sam.

“Wanna go out with crazy hardware store employees next weekend?” He asked.

“Sure, I’ll be your wingman, but you’re buying me drinks!” Sam agreed, “So, are we going after this Natasha girl or Bucky?” Steve blushed into a deep shade of red as Sam laughed at his expression. Steve whispered something so quiet Sam couldn’t actually hear him.

“Excuse me?”

“Bucky,” Steve muttered again and looked at his pale green wall that was all of the sudden the most interesting thing in the room. 

“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?” Sam grinned at Steve’s distress. 

“If you must know, Bucky,” he said a bit louder but still didn’t look at his friend.

“That’s what I thought,” Sam mused as his friend threw a pillow at him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Steve!” He turned around when he heard someone shout his name on the street. A smile plastered onto his face when he saw Bucky catching up to him on the street. 

“Hi, Buck,” Steve greeted as he stopped to wait for his colleague. Sometimes on his way to work he hoped he’d bump into Bucky around the block they went their own way the first day of work when they walked home together. 

“Do you always walk to work?” Bucky asked Steve when he caught him up.

“Yeah, pretty much always unless I’m running really late. It’s only like ten minutes or so quicker by the subway anyway,” Steve replied.

“Oh, I almost always take the subway, unless I’m running really late. It would take me less time to walk but I’m just lazy,” Bucky laughed.

“But you’re walking today, even though you’re not running late?” Steve pointed out.

“There’s just a certain someone I wanted to meet on my way to work,” Bucky winked at him and Steve frowned, “That certain someone being you, you dumbass,” Bucky added because Steve was clearly not taking the hint. 

“Oh! Okay,” Steve blushed and turned to look at some grocery store window that, all the sudden, had peaked his interest. In the corner of his eye he could see Bucky shrug carelessly. Steve was confused by this talk and continued to walk next to Bucky in silence that, to be fair, was just a tiny bit uncomfortable. Bucky didn’t seem to notice, though. 

They got to work and Steve hurried quickly into the middle of the isles to do an inventory, that way he didn’t have to talk to anyone.

“What’s gotten his panties in a twist?” He heard Natasha ask Bucky as he went by.

“I don’t know, Nat, but even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you, you hawk,” Steve heard Bucky say, even if he couldn’t see the two anymore. He smiled at that a little.

**

“Steve, wanna get lunch with me?” Bucky asked while Steve was in the middle of counting some screws. He lifted his finger up to signal that he was in the middle of something important. He wasn’t going to lose count now. After he finished counting the screws he scribbled down the number and turned to Bucky.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Steve said, “I brought lunch.”

“Ditch it. Eat it tomorrow,” Bucky pleaded, “pretty please?” He stretched the ‘e’ and put his best puppy eyes on to convince Steve. Who, naturally, couldn’t resist and agreed to go to lunch with Bucky. 

They went to the same cafe as they did on Steve’s first day and both ordered the same thing they had the time before. They sat down and ate in silence for a while. 

“Sorry, Steve, if I was out of line this morning,” Bucky said all of the sudden. Could he maybe not blush all the time, Steve wondered as his face started heating up again. 

“N-no problem,” he stuttered, “really. I’m just a little awkward with that kind of stuff. Not one for flirting and so on,” he explained.

“No?” Bucky asked mischievously, “That’s not what I gathered the last time we had lunch.”

“I don’t know what got into me that day,” Steve blushed even more, if that was even possible, “I guess the company was just… intoxicating?”

“Look! You’re doing it again!” Bucky shouted and laughed. Steve’s eyes went big as he realised what he’d said again. What the hell do they put in the food here, he thought to himself? “He can’t flirt he says and then flirts like a pro,” Bucky said. They both laughed, Bucky even more, when he saw Steve lean back and hit his chest with laughter. 

“Shut up,” Steve said, “I’m sorry about that, I really don’t know what I’m doing here.” He spread his arms as if he was showing off what was there. 

“No worries Steve, you’ll figure it out,” Bucky flashed a grin at Steve. The rest of the lunch went normally as they spoke about mundane everyday things while they finished their meals. 

**

The rest of the week went smoothly as Steve had been really getting into his new job. He and Bucky had had lunch almost every day of the week and even Natasha seemed to be warming up to him too. On Saturday he was digging through his closet for something to wear, but nothing seemed to be good enough. 

“Steve, honey, you look great, no matter what you put on,” Sarah told he after he’d gone up to the full length mirror in the hallway for the fourth time.

“But mom, this is important,” Steve sighed dramatically, “these people usually see me in my work clothes, I need to dress to impress tonight.”

“Steve, they’re working in a hardware store, as are you, I doubt they are very fancy. And didn’t the invitation say casual?” Sarah asked and her face turned into a grin, “Or is there a certain someone you need to impress?”

“Shut up, mom,” Steve said but didn’t argue her. Sarah gave him a knowing smile, but left him alone.

“I think you should wear that long sleeved navy shirt with black jeans, by the way, blue really suits you,” she called from the other room. Groaning, Steve went back to his room, pulled his shirt off and dug through his closet for the navy one. He wouldn’t ever admit to the fact that his mom dressed him up for the night as he settled on the outfit. 

He flopped onto his bed and took out his phone to send a text to Sam. 

_I’m ready. Wanna head out in 15?_

His phone buzzed as the answer came through.

_Yeah, see you soon._

Steve didn’t have to ask where, because they always met up in the same crossing right next to a small flower shop. 

**

Sam was wearing blue jeans and a black dress shirt and Steve doubled over as he laughed at the sight. 

“Shit, we’re color coordinated,” Steve laughed, “we look like a tacky couple of middle aged gay men.”

Sam laughed at that but waved it off.

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll be swooning all the ladies anyway,” Sam said.

“Wow, someone’s confident,” Steve laughed, “and by the way, there’ll only be two ladies and one of them is at least 60-years-old.”

As they arrived to the bar, they saw a few of Steve’s co-workers there already as they walked over to the counter. Steve tried not to be disappointed that Bucky wasn’t there yet, because surely he was coming later. They ordered their drinks and Steve could feel his hands sweating as he passed his fake ID to the bartender. The man only glimpsed at their ID’s and just like that they we’re on their way to the table.

“Hey, Steve!” Bradley yelled, “and friend.”

“Hey guys, this is my friend Sam. Sam, this is Bradley, Vincent, June, Mike and Paul,” Steve listed and everyone waved at Sam, “Aren’t you supposed to call me Bart or something?” He hissed at Bradley.

“Nah, that’d be stupid. Gotta pick a stupid name, then use the real name as the second name. That way no-one will wonder why someone’s not called by their name,” Bradley explained like it was as simple as first grade maths. 

“Oh, okay,” Steve shrugged. He pointed out that Brad and Vin were both already a bit tipsy, “how long have you been here already?”

“Just a few minutes, really, we pre-gamed at Vinny’s before getting here,” Bradley explained. Steve thought that Vincent had a wife and a baby, but he didn’t dare to ask. 

As Sam engaged in a conversation with Bradley and Vincent, Steve was awkwardly trying to listen into the two different conversations. He hadn’t really gotten familiar with the older crew, so he dropped that and tried to keep track on what Sam, Brad and Vin were talking about.

“It’s not rocket science, Sam, you just use simple everyday things to make the perfect spitball weapon,” Bradley said and Steve wished the rest of the group would already show up. 

It wasn’t that long after when the door opened and four people walked into the bar. They looked like they owned the place as they walked in on formation and Steve could swear that they were walking in slow-mo, that’s how cool they looked. First was Bucky, who, holy shit, Steve thought, looked hot as hell in his leather jacket. After him came Natasha, who was rocking a similar look and behind her there was yet another guy in a leather jacket and sunglasses. Surprisingly the fourth person was a very normal looking guy, who was wearing a grey sweater and glasses, his curly hair sticking up in some places.

“Hi guys,” Bucky called as Bradley whistled through his fingers.

“The fantastic four has arrived,” he announced, “all hail king Buchanan!”

Vincent and Bradley hailed the arrivals as they laughed and took the last empty seats around the table. Bucky turned to Sam and lifted an eyebrow at his outfit that matched Steve’s well. 

“You’re new,” he said.

“Hi, Sam, a friend of Steve’s,” Sam said and shook Bucky’s hand.

“Just a friend?” Bucky asked and looked pointedly up and down them both.

“Yeah, don’t let the outfits fool ya, we just can’t help being so stylish,” Sam said and Bucky shrugged.

“Anyway, Sam, I’m Bucky, these are my housemates Clint and Bruce and this is my co-worker and BFF, Natasha,” Bucky introduced them all as Sam whistled at Natasha.

“How you doing?” He flirted and Natasha went with it. Steve noticed that Bruce curled his hands into a fist. As he watched his friend trying to get it on with Natasha, he hadn’t noticed that Bucky had leaned closer to him and was now whispering into his ear. 

“Hey, Steve,” he breathed, “looking good tonight.” Chills went up Steve’s back as he felt Bucky’s breathing on his skin, but he didn’t manage to say anything back to the other man.

“What’s up with Bruce?” He managed to ask instead and nodded towards his fisted hands.

“Don’t worry about it, he’s just got a bit of a temper. Tends to get into bar fights, mostly over Natasha, and is a mean motherfucker if pissed off. This one time I saw him crack a guys nose up.” Bucky told him, "But he's smart as hell, too, studies some kind of fancy biology stuff." 

“They’re… together?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, going on like three years now,” Bucky said, “Tasha just likes to mess with guys. Maybe ‘cause she knows Bruce will fuck their shit up, I don’t know, but she’s messed up like that.” Steve whistled at that.

“That’s messed up,” he admitted, “ but kinda cute. Like he’s protective over her. Which reminds me, I should probably give Sam a heads up for that.” Bucky groaned, disappointed.

“I woulda paid to see that go down,” Bucky said resentfully, but shrugged in that indifferent way Steve had gotten used to, “maybe another time.”

Steve went up to the bar, where Sam was buying Natasha a drink. They looked up when Steve reached them and Sam honest to god growled at Steve.

“Could I talk to Sam for a bit here?” He gave Natasha his most charming smile and she stood to go back to their table. 

“What, Steve? Don’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” Sam hissed at him.

“Yeah, that’s why I came over,” Steve said, amused, “if I was you, I’d back off a bit. She’s together with Bruce and Bucky tells me he’s hit a guys nose in after they flirted with Nat. Has a bad temper or something.” Sam looked baffled.

“First, Nat, with Bruce, that geek?” Sam asked aghast, “And secondly, that geek can break a nose? You’re pulling my leg, Steve.”

“Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you,” Steve said, shrugged and walked back to the table where everyone else was seated. 

Steve’s warning seemed to work, because after that Sam had moved onto a girl group that was hanging out in the same bar. Sam was telling them all about his basketball career, criminal justice studies and other adventures and at least a few of the girls looked impressed. Steve was happy that Sam was enjoying himself, even though he didn’t really know anyone there. 

Bradley was telling some story loudly when Natasha came up to him.

“So, what are your intentions with my beloved James here?” She asked and Steve snorted some of his beer up. Luckily he got flustered when he was tipsy so Nat probably couldn’t tell that he was blushing again. 

“Wha-what do you mean?” He stuttered.

“Don’t try to fool me, Rogers, you like him don’t you?” She more accused than asked. 

“Well, yes, we do get along and he’s cute,” he admitted to her. Alcohol was his biggest enemy because it mage him talkative as shit. 

“Okay, I’ll let you in on a secret, Rogers,” Natasha said conspiratorially, “he thinks you’re cute too. In fact. he might be in love. Doesn’t ever shut up about you. You didn’t hear this from me!” And like that she was back in Bruce’s lap like she wasn’t ever talking to Steve at all. Steve watched the two kiss and suddenly his legs were taking him towards Bucky even though his brain didn’t really want to go. 

He just sat down next to the other guy but didn’t say anything. Bucky was talking with June, who was now very tipsy and Steve, if he wasn’t thinking about Nat’s words, would have found it hilarious. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Bucky’s voice startled Steve, “you were a bit out of it.”

“Yeah, sorry, it’s nothing,” Steve countered, “I was just thinking.”

“What were you thinking about?” Bucky asked, genuinely curious. Steve didn’t say anything at first but then the same old pinch of courage he seemed to get only with Bucky talked, before he could stop it.

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

They fell silent and then Steve cracked up, bending his head back in laughter. Bucky watched him questioningly as he tapped his chest while laughing.

“That was probably the worst conversation I’ve ever had,” Steve managed to say in the middle of laughing. Bucky was laughing too, now.

“Yeah, at least in the bottom five for me,” Bucky admitted with laughter.

“But really, I was thinking about you,” Steve said seriously when he managed to stop laughing, “I like you.” His eyes went big again as he had said something he didn’t really mean to. 

“Wow,” Bucky said quietly, “I can’t believe it.”

“What? No, forget it, it’s stupid,” Steve panicked, “forget I ever said anything. I must have misread this, I can quit at the store if you want to,” Steve was rambling on as Bucky was starting to crack up in turn. 

“No, no,” he shouted, “I didn’t mean it like that! Steve, stop, I like you too, I just can’t believe I actually made you like me. And I can’t believe you were going to quit your job just then.” Bucky was laughing now.

“Well, that’s not very hard,” Steve frowned, “you are very charming.”

It was Bucky’s turn to blush at Steve’s words. They both were still smiling wide and just staring at each other when June coughed right next to them.

“God, just kiss already,” she said impatiently, “I’m gonna have to brush my teeth extra good tonight after this much sugar.”

Steve and Bucky both cracked up again and Bucky stood up to hug June, who looked just a little dissatisfied with the situation. 

“Wanna get out of here?” Bucky suggested and gave his hand for Steve to take it. Steve stood up and took his hand. 

“Lead the way,” he said and smirked. He heard cheers as they were leaving the bar. Right by the door they almost bumped into Nicholas Fury, who looked nothing less than furious. 

“Not a single one of you motherfuckers thought of inviting me tonight?” He shouted across the room so everyone could hear it. Steve looked into Bucky’s eyes and they both were laughing again as they were quickly running away from their boss.

When they got out into the street they were bent over each other, crying with laughter. When, after a small eternity they stopped laughing Steve got lost in Bucky’s eyes and they just stared at each other in quiet. When Steve’s brain started working again, he thought he should say something, or move away, they were so close to each other he could feel Bucky’s breath on his skin. Before he had any more time to think about the situation Bucky surged forwards and planted his lips on Steve’s. 

Automatically Steve kissed Bucky back and curled his fingers into the other man’s long hair. Bucky moaned at that and Steve took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. When they separated it felt too soon, even though at the same time Steve felt like they had kissed for hours. 

“Let’s go to my place?” Bucky suggested, a little out of breath, red on his cheeks and hair tousled. 

“Yeah,” Steve smiled and as they walked, he slipped his hand into Bucky’s. 

**

Steve stirred up and at first he didn’t realise what had woken him up but then he could feel someone’s hand petting his head gently. He smiled and turned up to face Bucky.

“Morning,” he said sleepily, voice still hoarse after the night. 

“Morning, Steve,” Bucky smiled back while still petting Steve’s head with his right hand. Steve reached up and planted a lazy kiss on Bucky’s lips.

“I could wake up like this every day.”


End file.
